Teaching Assignment for 2009-10

Last week I found out what I will be teaching for the coming year.  Before I get to that I should mention that the biggest change for me this coming year will be in taking on the responsibilities of department chair.  Now, before you go ahead and congratulate me please keep in mind that I [...]

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What’s in a Name?

Make your way over to Vast Public Indifference for a fascinating series of posts on the naming of enslaved and free blacks after Confederate heroes. Black Children, Confederate Heroes Jeff Davis, General Lee, and Stonewall J. Chronology of Confederate Naming Unionist Naming in the Postwar South

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The Civil War is Alive and Well in Amsterdam

One of the pleasures of spending a week in a place like Amsterdam is having the opportunity to browse the numerous bookstores that dot the city.  I can spend hours in bookstores, especially antiquarian bookstores where the added bonus is the smell of old leather-bound volumes.  There were quite a number of small-independent bookstores and [...]

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Another Angle on the State of Jones

I‘ve been thinking quite a bit about this little controversy as I make my way around the blogosphere and read the comments from various quarters.  While there is no way of getting around the fact that this book has serious interpretive flaws, I have to wonder whether, in the end, the book has some redeeming [...]

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A Statement About the State of Jones Dispute

[Cross-Posted at Cliopatria] The ongoing dispute between Victoria Bynum, the author of the well-regarded study, The Free State of Jones (UNC Press, 2001) and Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer, the authors of the brand new book, The State of Jones (Doubleday, 2009), shows no sign of letting up.  Now that the story has been picked [...]

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Can a Rape on the Northern Neck Explain the Crater Massacre?

It seems fitting to offer a few thoughts about the Crater on this the 145th anniversary of the battle.  On Monday Brendan Wolfe posted a fascinating entry on the Crater massacre over at the Encyclopedia Virginia blog.  In the process of putting together their entry on the battle, my friend, VFH Intern, and UVA graduate [...]

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Where are the Archival Sources?

Three books have been published on the battle of the Crater over the past two years and I have had the opportunity to review all of them.  I reviewed Alan Axelrod’s The Horrid Pit for the Journal of Southern History and my review of John Schmutz’s The Battle of the Crater is forthcoming at H-Net.  [...]

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Having Trouble Viewing Civil War Memory?

I‘ve heard from a few people over the past few weeks that they are having trouble viewing Civil War Memory.  The problem seems to be with those of you who are running one of the older versions of Internet Explorer.  In some cases an error message is received and in the worst cases the loading [...]

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A Visit to the Anne Frank House

I do not consider myself to be a religious person.  Yes, I was raised in a reformed Jewish household, but following my Bar Mitzvah I made a conscious decision to forgo further religious education; this suited my parents just fine.  I didn’t particularly enjoy my Wednesday afternoon Hebrew classes; in fact, it would be more [...]

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